{"id":845,"date":"2021-04-01T12:59:31","date_gmt":"2021-04-01T12:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whisbear.al\/when-will-my-baby-start-sleeping-through-the-night\/"},"modified":"2021-05-28T11:06:38","modified_gmt":"2021-05-28T11:06:38","slug":"when-will-my-baby-start-sleeping-through-the-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whisbear.al\/en\/when-will-my-baby-start-sleeping-through-the-night\/","title":{"rendered":"When will my baby start sleeping through the night?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The question \u201cWhen will my baby start sleeping through the night\u201d bothers most parents. They are curious about that, but also often have to endure the inquisitiveness of other family members or friends. \u201cIs he\/she sleeping through the night yet?\u201d they keep asking, as if that was an exam of the child\u2019s development and parents\u2019 competences.<\/p>\n

However, that question is based on a wrong assumption. It is asked by people who don\u2019t fully understand what child development really is about and what individual differences are. There is no one age at which all children start sleeping through the night. It just happens at some point and doesn\u2019t change back.<\/p>\n

Each child is different<\/p>\n

Each child has their own day and night rhythm and their individual way to react to stimuli (e.g. sleeps quietly when a car alarm blares outside, but wakes up at a quietest rustle).<\/p>\n

About 10% of children are more sensitive than others. They need to be constantly cuddled, carried, and calmed down. Soothing them and fulfilling their need for closeness are also more difficult. Such a high need baby will need their mom to be near almost all the time. If she moves away from her sleeping baby, their sleep is shallow and they\u2019re alert, they\u2019ll keep waking up.<\/p>\n

Other children since birth suffer from various health problems (colic, allergy, reflux, hip dysplasia) and that makes them fussier. Such children may have problems falling asleep and wake up more easily.<\/p>\n

Finally, there are children who develop linearly, and those who go through stages. In other words: they take their time preparing to acquire a new skill and then suddenly become \u201cmore adult.\u201d<\/p>\n

These are all natural reasons that make it impossible to determine the exact moment when a child \u201cshould\u201d sleep for hours.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The need for sleep changes<\/p>\n

Sometimes I hear parents who proudly say: \u201cOur Steven sleeps through the night since birth. He\u2019s two months now and sleeps like an adult.\u201d When I hear that I think three things.<\/p>\n

First of all, it\u2019s not the parents\u2019 achievement. They just happened to have a baby with a simpler \u201cprogramming.\u201d In that case, it\u2019s nice not to boast in front of those parents whose children don\u2019t sleep that well \u2013 why add to their frustration?<\/p>\n

Secondly, it\u2019s NOT the optimal situation when an infant sleeps through the night without a break for nursing. Check how often they eat during the day, what their weight gain is, or if they\u2019re not drowsy due to, for example, neonatal jaundice. An infant should be fed at least 8 times per day and the break at night between nursing should not be longer than 4-6 hours (it depends on how much they ate during the day).<\/p>\n

Finally, the fact that a baby sleeps like an angel does not mean that they\u2019ll continue to do so. Almost every child at some point has problems with sleeping. Between the 4-6 months infants develop motor skills, their nursing is less effective during the day, but they demand more food at night. It\u2019s natural and good for their development, night milk is rich with fatty acids and perfect for children at that stage. But around 7-8 months a lot of children feel an increased need to be close to their mother. They often wake at night and calm down only when cuddled.<\/p>\n

\"Whisbear-<\/p>\n

Children sometimes can\u2019t sleep.<\/p>\n

Teething pains. Beginning of a viral infection. Runny nose that makes breathing difficult \u2013 in the first year all that makes resting at night difficult for the whole family. A bit older children have problems with sleeping when they stop nursing or due to other changes in their lives (e.g. when mom goes back to work). And it\u2019s hard to demand from them to \u201cdeal with that,\u201d because they \u201cshould sleep through the night already.\u201d A baby who misses their parents during the day will want their attention and closeness at night. Naturally, it does not mean that the whole family life should be turned upside down. The baby should be calmly reminded that night is for sleeping. But we should also try to understand the baby and we shouldn\u2019t require them to supress their basic needs.<\/p>\n

When the rhythm of day naps changes, so does the night sleep<\/p>\n

An infant usually sleeps between meals, but a 2 or 3-month old baby gradually begins to develop a rhythm to their day naps and play time. There may be 3 or 4 day naps,but it changes over time. Towards the end of the first year a lot of children have only 1-2 short naps. And each time when a nap is removed from a daily timetable, the baby\u2019s night sleep changes too. Sometimes they unexpectedly fall asleep at 7 pm and it\u2019s impossible to wake them up. However, they wake up long before dawn (at 2 am or 3 am) with a lot of energy for playing. It\u2019s normal. If they wake up at night, they never, ever do that to be nasty and to tease or harass their parents. That\u2019s how their nervous system happens to be working at that specific development stage.<\/p>\n

What can parents do to prolong a night\u2019s sleep?<\/p>\n

Parents can patiently teach their child that night is for sleeping. It means:<\/p>\n

no lights in the room where the child is sleeping (e.g. computer screen, a night lamp) -this interferes with the sleep-regulating hormones produced during sleep;
\nat night, when your baby wakes up and wants to eat, don\u2019t switch on bright lights and avoid making too much noise. Change only if necessary;
\nregulate the daily routine: walks, play, bath should happen more or less at the same time;
\nintroduce pre-sleep rituals. E.g. bath, massage, lullaby, nursing (these are just examples, you can have your own ritual). Repeat each evening. With time, an association develops: \u201cRight, dad is bathing me and putting on new clothes, it means sleep time is soon\u201d;
\navoid energetic activities and extra experiences in the evenings (guests, loud noises, light);
\nwhen they are 6 months or older and eat other food (not only breastmilk), give them a bit heavier food in the evening, e.g. cereal (remember to brush the teeth afterwards!)
\nNote \u2013 don\u2019t feed when asleep!<\/p>\n

Some parents, in order to ensure the longest possible sleep for both themselves and the baby do that: when the child is asleep and they\u2019re going to bed too, they feed the sleeping baby. Paediatricians don\u2019t recommend that. Eating should be something we are aware of. By feeding a baby when they\u2019re asleep, we disturb their appetite. It\u2019s a really bad idea to feed a baby with a bottle while they are sleeping on their back. They can choke easily and the food may get to the tympanum and trigger infections. Moreover, babies who have teeth may end up with baby bottle tooth decay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The question \u201cWhen will my baby start sleeping through the night\u201d bothers most parents. They are curious about that, but also often have to endure the inquisitiveness of other family members or friends. \u201cIs he\/she sleeping through the night yet?\u201d they keep asking, as if that was an exam of the child\u2019s development and parents\u2019 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"The question \u201cWhen will my baby start sleeping through the night\u201d bothers most parents. Each child is different.","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[84,81,82,79,80,88],"class_list":["post-845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tips-and-advice","tag-baby-shower","tag-baby-sleep","tag-pink-noise","tag-sleep-aid","tag-teething","tag-whisbear-giveaway"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whisbear.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whisbear.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whisbear.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whisbear.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whisbear.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/whisbear.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whisbear.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whisbear.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whisbear.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whisbear.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}